Meet Community Support Worker
Victoria Burke

One of the first people you’re likely to encounter when you walk through our front doors is Victoria Burke, our community support worker.

Victoria works hard to ensure that every single person is made to feel welcome right away: “This is a warm, open, welcoming place,” she explains. “You can come here no matter who you are or what your struggles are right now, because we all have our struggles. You can come here on your worst day or your best day.”

Victoria’s passion is harm reduction, which is all about reducing the harms associated with drug use and other risky health behaviours. She comes by that passion honestly, via her own lived experience: “I understand what it’s like to be addicted to drugs—for an addiction to have a hold on you,” she explains.

When it’s working at its best, harm reduction is practical, user-driven, non-judgmental, and community based. It’s the opposite of top-down, one-size-fits-all strategies and services, in other words. And that’s what makes it so powerful, according to Victoria.

Harm reduction is not about telling people what to do, she explains. It’s about helping them to identify the solutions and supports that might be beneficial to them in their lives right now.

For some, that might mean obtaining a referral to mental health services; for others, it might mean receiving a bit of financial support—like help paying for groceries or gas. Or it could mean accessing harm reduction tools like a Naloxone kit or a safe injection kit with a sharps container (plus the ability to pick up and drop off your kit in a setting that’s completely judgment-free).

Of course, harm reduction doesn’t start and end with the individual. Community support is key. It’s about recognizing the role that the entire community can play in addressing systems that serve to marginalize and isolate individuals. Because when the entire community comes together to tackle systemic problems like poverty or addiction, people who are struggling feel supported, not marginalized. “It’s about finding that common humanity,” Victoria says.

If you happen to be a point in your life where you are fortunate enough to have an abundance of resources—perhaps time, money, or something else entirely—there are all kinds of ways to invest that abundance in North Hastings Community Trust; and to do so in ways that will enrich our community. Drop by or get in touch if you’d like to learn more.

This blog post was written by Ann Douglas, a relative newcomer to our community who also happens to be a major fan of all things North Hastings Community Trust. It is the first in a series of blog posts she’ll be writing about the people you’ll meet at North Hastings Community Trust.